Monday, July 17, 2017

Weyauwega Weekend

While visiting a family friend near Weyauwega, we decided to take full advantage of the wonderful weather and check out some new places.

Our tour of Wisconsin state parks continued with a visit to the very picturesque Hartman Creek State Park. With diverse habitats, a \variety of trails, and a well laid pout design, this park was excellent.

My wife actually visited the hike first without the girls, something we haven't done in quote some time. We trekked a few loop trails across a few of the multiple lakes within the park. We came across many things including Pope Lake State Natural Area.

As we continued. we had lots of birds and even saw this grouse waddle his or her way over within just a few feet of us. Maybe not the brightest bird, but certainly beautiful.

We continued over to Hartman Lake and found many more animal friends, including some Green Herons, a Cedar Waxwing, a hiking chipmunk. and some turtle nests that appeared to have been raided.

After finishing up this loop, we drove to the other side of the park to explore a segment of one of our favorite trails: the Ice Age Trail.

We traversed up and down and around this meandering segment. I, of course, stopped for some natural play.

When we returned to our home for the weekend, it was fishing time on Bear Lake. Embry has been enjoying her fishing trips now for four years. She always ends up catching the biggest fish.

The fish weren't biting to much this day, but the lake's resident bald eagle was quite active. We saw the pair fish, soar, and swoop, and heard them communicate in a variety of ways throughout our time on the lake.

The next day, we visited some local sites that Embry was excited for. In both the Animal Haven Zoo and JR's Deer Park, she had an opportunity to see and feed animals. Although a bit timid at first, she eventually opened up and wanted to fee every animal, even if they weren't receptive to her food delivery.

Having such a fantastic experience the day before, we decided to head back to Hartman Creek State Park, bringing along our most experiences tyke hiker. We decided on a new loop trail around Allen lake. Luckily for us, a park ranger was leading a fishing activity for kids right near where the trail was located.

After Embry caught her Northern, it was off to the trail where she took over hike leader responsibilities.

With basking turtles, woodpeckers, wild raspberries, and many trees to climb and explore, we enjoyed a wonderful time on the trail and made many new memories.